The Astonishing Secret Of Awesome Man (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man is an awesomely hilarious debut picture book from Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon and animation illustrator Jake Parker. Awesome Man is a super hero who can do no wrong. He has an Awesome Power Grip, shoots positronic rays out of his eyeballs and lives in a secret fortress under the Arctic Ocean. Throughout the story the reader is trying to discover Awesome Man's secret identity. Will they find out before the book is over?The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man is well paced story filled with laughs for children and the adults reading with them. The illustrations give a nod to superhero's of the past. While reading, children are introduced to a variety of words that are unique to this type of text: positron, arch nemesis and antimatter, just to name a few. This text is great for 1-4 grade. Younger children will enjoy trying to guess the identity of Awesome Man and older children will appreciate the drawings and will themselves be able to connect personally with Awesome Man's adventures. I'm on a Michael Chabon kick right now, and I was surprised to learn he wrote a picture book. (The illustrator is Jake Parker, and the pictures are bright and happy and complement and enhance the story.) My children, who are now 10 and 13, enjoyed me reading it to them. Really, it's for younger children. It's the story of a hero (or of wanting to be a hero), and it has a sweet twist at the end. In fact, the picture on pages 11-12 are a bit deceiving. My daughter discovered on the next day, while reading the book on her own, that who I initially thought to be the secret identity of the hero was not correct!
What do You think about The Astonishing Secret Of Awesome Man (2011)?
A very comical super hero book with a great twist ending.
—smcmahon
I like the part where they say "pooped"!
—Tiffanyamber159
